A union busting CEO on Obama's Deficit Commission is willing to risk nuclear fallout in a town

[Better Believe It]

David Cote is so dangerous he's willing to risk nuclear fallout in order to force uranium workers to cut their retiree health care and pension plans.
By Mike Elk
September 1, 2010


Meet Honeywell CEO David Cote -- perhaps the most dangerous man in America. So dangerous that he's willing to risk nuclear fallout in order to demand that uranium workers agree to cut their retiree health care and pension plans.

Honeywell runs the only conversion facility in the world that can distill pure uranium, located in Metropolis, Illinois. On June 28, Honeywell locked out its union workers during contract negotiations because the union, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669, refused to accept the company's proposal to eliminate retiree health care and pension plans for new hires and increase workers' out-of-pocket health care to $8,500 a year. Good health care coverage for retirees is especially important to uranium workers, who suffer rates of cancer 10 times higher than the general public due to their daily interaction with radioactive material. It's easy to see why the workers would refuse to give in to demands to eliminate retiree health care coverage.

In a major concession, the uranium workers' union refused to go on strike, out of concern for the safety of their complex and dangerous facility. To keep the plant safe, the union agreed to continue working under an extension of its current contract. But that didn't satisfy Honeywell, which is already making record profits. It decided it could make even more if it played hardball with its workers, risking a nuclear disaster.

So Honeywell's executives locked out the local uranium workers, who have decades of experience operating a hazardous uranium enrichment facility. Instead, Honeywell hired hastily trained scabs (replacement workers) to run the plant. Honeywell uranium worker John Paul Smith described the plan to run the plant on poorly trained scab labor as "a serious gamble." The Metropolis uranium plant is the only uranium enrichment facility in the world that can distill pure uranium, and it would be impossible to train workers fully on how to run such a complex facility in a matter of days or weeks.


Read the full article at:

http://www.alternet.org/economy/148044/one_of_obama%27s_social_security_slasher_wannabes_threatens_small_town_with_nuclear_annihilation/?page=entire

[chimpymustgo]

1. This reads like something out of Dickens.

[whistler162]

5. Well it is fiction!

[kenfrequed]

8. What part?

What part of the article is fiction?

Was there or was there not a lockout?

Is it or is it not a nuclear material processing facility?

I just need a bit more elaboration to figure out what I think of the article.

[whistler162]

12. The small part about risking nuclear fallout.......

but heck that is a small thing!

[Better Believe It]

14. The accidental releases at the plant.

In Superman’s Hometown, a Labor Dispute Over Health
By Dan Frosch
August 8, 2010


Workers have long feared that the plant poses dangers. According to Honeywell’s quarterly financial filings, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department are investigating whether the plant complied with federal law in its storage of sludge. A grand jury has been convened in the matter, the filings said.

Mr. Dalpe said Honeywell was cooperating with the E.P.A. investigation, “which resulted from a company self-disclosure more than two years ago.”

Federal inspectors have been on-site monitoring the situation, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “At this point, we’re satisfied they’ve met all safety regulations, and that they have a continued emphasis on safety,” he said.

In December 2003, an accidental release of uranium hexafluoride sent a plume of gas into the air, and nearby homes were evacuated. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency sued Honeywell over the accident, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued two safety violations, which led to increased oversight.



Crosses symbolize workers at the uranium conversion plant who have died from cancer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/us/09metropolis.html?_r=1

[SidDithers]

2. Haven't you already posted this article twice?...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=9062853
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=9064881

Is it any better the third time you post it?

Sid

[Better Believe It]

3. No. It was locked so DU'ers could not respond.

[SidDithers]

4. And yet there it is, still unlocked...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=9064881

Sid

[Better Believe It]

6. And yet there it is, still locked .... I take it you support David Cote or

you're just nit picking. What is your opinion of David Cote, do you think that picking a union buster and strike breaking CEO for the deficit commission is a wonderful selection or not?

I'm listening.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=9062853

Oh .... I forgot that I had reposted a text linking to the original article that was locked.

So sue me!

Or at least quit stalking me and other posters. OK?

[SidDithers]

7. Well, it's locked now, but it wasn't this morning...

Stalking you? Don't make me fucking laugh. :rofl:

Sid

[kenfrequed]

9. If this is accurate

Then I am shocked and disgusted.

[Gabi Hayes]

10. almost no actual news coverage I could find (mostly blogs), but check this:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/12/steelworkers-rally-for-locked-out-nuclear-workers/

Some 3,000 union members and their families from at least four states recently rallied in Metropolis, Ill., in support of USW Local 7-669, which has been locked out at a Honeywell Corp. plant that processes uranium for use in nuclear fuel.

Cheryl DeCero, who belongs to the USW’s Women of Steel organization, rode a charter bus from Gary, 365 miles north of Metropolis. Before she learned of the lockout, which began June 28, the only Metropolis she knew about was the Man of Steel’s fictional hometown.

[kenfrequed]

11. Hmm...

I see. Well it wouldn't surprise me that the media ignores labor related news, they have been doing it for so long it is pitiful. When they do cover anything labor related it is always through a distorted human interest lens.

"How is the Bus strike affecting people getting to their job at the Mall of America?" Was one such BS news story.

[lonestarnot]

13. Wow.